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I'm a new player, any tips or tricks from the veterans?

Loved Dead by Daylight for years, haven't played it until recently because my computer was a potato. Any tips, tricks and perks I should be aware of? Like for starters... is there some perk that prevents proper hook sabotaging or was that a glitch in my second game, lmao! And which characters are the best for noobs? I'm currently maining Nea, but I was wondering if like, Bill was better or something. Any advice would be really great!

Comments

  • Marc_go_solo
    Marc_go_solo Member Posts: 5,332
    edited September 2023

    Firstly, welcome back to the game! I hope it's going alright for you.

    Just a few things to get you going, as it might be more fun than just reading:

    1. A good solo survivor perk recently got released in Ellen Ripley's "Lucky Star". A perk that represses pools of blood and grunts of pain for a period of time in a locker may help escaping, but when you exit you'll see all survivor auras as well as the closest gen. A useful info perk, which also helps with hiding.

    2. If you're looking for chaos, Nicolas Cage is happy to provide! A very unique healing and hiding perk in "Plot Twist", whilst his "Dramaturgy" can bag you some decent items. His third perk is a bit more of a meme perk (although thr two I mentioned are still darn memey!), but has its uses.

    3. Finally, Gabrielle Soma has brought in "Made For This", which is a pretty packed perk and will probably be altered soon. "Scavemger would be great if you can hit those skill checks.

    Anyway, have fun exploring!

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  • Marc_123
    Marc_123 Member Posts: 3,654

    If you haven´t played for some time, play both sides.

    Or if you don´t have all the stuff, watch Otz.

    There is too much of aura reading and endurance hit tanking now everywhere. Game has changed pretty hefty.

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  • Xernoton
    Xernoton Member Posts: 5,860

    Welcome to the fog.

    DBD is a fairly complex game with a bunch of different mechanics, maps and combinations of powers, addons, items and perks. It takes a while to get used to all of it. Don't expect to learn everything right away. It takes time. Many people here have thousands of hours and I assure you, we still learn. Be patient, look at what perks other killers / survivors run and practise identifying them throughout the match.

    Playing both sides also helps you learn how others play. Sometimes other survivors will teach you how chasing actually works and killers will demonstrate how to use different powers. It helps keeping the game fresh and engaging too, since it's otherwise a bit repetitive.

    When it comes to which survivor would best be suited to start with, I recommend Meg Thomas because of her perks. Sprint Burst is a very strong perk, that can help you in different situations, Quick & Quiet is a good perk to give you a little extra edge in some chases and Adrenaline is a pretty strong perk too. Other than that, it doesn't really matter too much what survivor you pick first. All survivors have the same abilities and only differ in their visual design as well as their voices and teachables. Other good perks for beginning survivor players are Lithe (teachable perk of Feng Min) and Windows Of Opportunity (teachable of Kate Denson). Bill has the teachable Unbreakable, which is pretty strong as well but you're most likely not going to need it as you start playing as it is a counter to a strategy, that experienced killers would use more often than beginners.

    There isn't really any perk, that prevents sabotage in particular. Dying Light and Thanatophobia make it slower but other than that, there isn't really a perk that would counter it. Could you give us a bit more information, like what killer you played against and what exactly the problem was? It's a bit hard to tell what was going on otherwise.

  • saintjimmy456
    saintjimmy456 Member Posts: 185

    Play Bond while you get used to the game, great perk for finding gens to work on, seeing who needs healing, finding somebody to heal you, figuring out where the killer is from seeing who is being chased etc.

  • drsoontm
    drsoontm Member Posts: 4,903

    Survivor then?

    My first advice would be to not neglect playing killer. Especially the ones you find difficult to verse. (Know your enemy) If you don't experience the game as killer it'll hinder your progress as survivor.

    Chose a survivor who blends and is silent. Bill has a strong breath and killers tend to work with sounds more than with their eyes. I wouldn't take him. That being said :, avoid flashy skins too. My personal favorite is Claudette but I've chosen her when the maps were darker and the concept of Blendette was a thing.

    My personal style tends to gravitate around vanishing in plain sight. CoconutRTS is a streamer I appreciate for his survivor builds (even if he is first and foremost a Huntress). He has a build where you get hit, make distance then hide and stop making any sound while healing : I love it.

  • GeneralV
    GeneralV Member Posts: 11,374

    Under any circumstances, don't get attached to anything. Not perks, not add-ons, and ESPECIALLY not killer powers.

    Your favorite things could get taken from you at any given time. And it is unlikely you'll ever see them again.

  • Nazzzak
    Nazzzak Member Posts: 5,703

    Welcome! When I started I levelled up Feng first because of Technician - great beginner perk until you get used to skill checks. Windows of Opportunity (Kate perk) is also great for learning maps/tiles. Get in the habit of looking behind you when in chase, and I'd also advise familiarising yourself with killer powers and perks, particularly the popular meta ones. There's a site called Nightlight, which isn't 100% accurate (small sample sizing, unlikely to be used by non-english speakers, etc) but it's accurate enough when it comes to most used perks. So you can get a general idea of what perks you're more likely to see in your games and among certain killers.

    @GeneralV also makes a very very good point - don't get used to any one perk in particular. I like to switch up my builds, though I do have my favourites of course (my favourite exhaustion perk is Overcome, but it's easy enough to play without it). Perk changes have become common place recently, so that's one reason, but you also develop better natural game sense when you don't get used to relying on certain perks.

  • Depressedlegion
    Depressedlegion Member Posts: 332

    I would choose ace. Quiet, good cosmetics, and one decent perk.

  • UndeddJester
    UndeddJester Member Posts: 3,394
    edited September 2023

    Not a veteran but someone who recently broke out of Newb status (I think): -

    1. Good characters to start and get to rank 50 for their perks are Meg Thomas (All), Dwight Fielding (Prove Thyself, Bond), Kate Denson (Windows of Opportunity and Boil Over).
    2. Understand what a 3 gen is, and try to prevent it. There are 7 gens, you need to repair 5. Try to ensure the 3 left are no close together. If you see 2 gens near to each other, repair one and leave the other, and head to a different part of the map. Also take the generic perk Deja Vu.
    3. Killers are bigger than you, so can't hug terrain as closely. When running keep sticking close to terrain.
    4. A 'strong' pallet is a pallet that has a lot of terrain around it that the killer can't easily bypass on either side. 'Weak' pallets are pallets with little terrain around them the killer can get around easily. When learning just throw pallets when you need to. Don't worry about saving them, but keep looping a strong pallet until the killer breaks it. For weak pallets, throw the pallet and leave to another pallet.
    5. We'll Make It, Guardian, Deja Vu are all standard perks and form a decent starter build. Add Sprint Burst from Meg, and you've got healing, aura reading, gen repair and an escape perk.
    6. Watch streamers both for survivor but especially killer to get an idea what killer do. Understanding how their power works is really helpful to lasting longer.
    7. Don't take it too seriously. Games are relatively short, so don't sweat it if you make any bad mistakes.😁

    P.s. Fear the 4 O'clock skillcheck... I screw that one up even now 😒

  • thisislastyearsmodel
    thisislastyearsmodel Unconfirmed, Member Posts: 636
  • tjt85
    tjt85 Member Posts: 955
    edited September 2023

    As a relatively new player myself, I have good games occasionally but I'm still pretty terrible at Survivor. But I hope my advice is still useful.

    As far as perks go, there's not going to be much in your arsenal when you first start playing. I started playing the game with Dwight, but knowing what I know now, I would probably start with Meg.

    Her Perks are all great. Sprint Burst will give you some defense against tunnelling, allowing you to get away from the hook after being saved very quickly. If you can also break line of sight, Quick & Quiet will let you vault or jump into a locker silently and can be a good way to lose the killer. Combo this with Lightweight and you'll be difficult to track.

    Adrenaline is the only one I don't rate too highly for beginners. I rarely see the end game, so I consider it to be a perk for more experienced survivors who are more likely to reach this stage of the game.

    When you first start playing, evading or losing the big bad should be the name of the game and should keep you alive for longer.

    Other good free perks to consider are:

    Kindred (good for sharing info with the team when hooked, seeing camping killers, seeing if you should go for the save and for knowing what gens are being worked on when someone else is on the hook).

    Deja Vu (to see the three closest together gens and to get a speed boost for repairing them). I would be cautious using Deja Vu however. These parts of the map are usually where the killer will be patrolling the most.

    If you're on Console, Kate and Feng are also free characters and have some great beginner perks too (Windows of Opportunity to learn looping from Kate and Lithe, Alert and Technician from Feng).

    Watch Killer streamers to better understand their powers. There's a lot to learn in this game!

    And don't worry about ever escaping. I almost never do. For now, just focus on improving and having fun being utterly terrified.

  • Smoe
    Smoe Member Posts: 2,935
    edited September 2023

    That's to be expected, after all you're playing a live service game, which means nothing is set in stone and everything is subject to change.

    That's just the nature of these types of games.

    Post edited by Smoe on
  • GeneralV
    GeneralV Member Posts: 11,374

    Nonetheless, it is an excellent piece of advice. Avoids problems, like the ones I had.

  • If you are going to play a killer, practice only nurses. The other killers are either weakened to the point of uselessness or made to have uninteresting abilities that are not differentiated from the others.


    If you play Survivor, it will work as long as you don't get hung up on the wrong character or stick to a particular play style. The key is to be aware that you have to repair 5 generators and interject other tasks as appropriate, such as recovering allies to accomplish this.

  • I think it was Micheal Myers, I kept sabotaging the same hooks, over and over again. It happened in a match against Oni too. Before this I only really watched H2O Delirous playing DbD, which is how I found out about the game and decided to give it a try. But trying to kill a hook and having it reappear was rather disheartening to say the least lol! So far I've only really been playing survivor because every time I try to play as killer it never loads hahaha! I've had some friendly folks helping me out, and some killers who realized I was new and weren't jerks about it even though I was most definitely an easy kill. And I have a friend who will be helping me practice with bots as a killer, so far my practice with Trapper has been... less than successful lmao. All in all, I'm having a lot of fun, even though people keep telling me to run away while I still can... which, that's not happening. Been a fan of the game since it came out and now I can finally play it.

  • HoodedWildKard
    HoodedWildKard Member Posts: 2,013
    edited September 2023

    Top tip for both roles.

    Survivor: use. windows. Of. Opportunity.

    Such a good perk for beginners, lets you be much more effective in chase, seeing pallets and vaults through walls is invaluable and lets you plan on the fly and be totally aware of where the nearest safe spot it.

    Killer: do. Not. Tunnelvision.

    So many killers do this, if a surv is dunking on you in chase sometimes leaving them injured and going to pressure gens is the best call. The longer you focus on 1 surv, the longer 3 other survs have to rush gens. If you leave them injured then you may get an easy down later or if they get healed it's buying you time. Bit of a balance, you don't want to abandon every chase but knowing when to shift gear and keeping an eye on the bigger picture is very important for killer.

    P.s. your surv main is mainly just a cosmetic choice. Mechanically they are exactly the same, the only difference is appearance and the noises they make, which is a pretty negligible difference except for a few extreme examples, i.e yoichi's bright yellow raincoat making him easy to spot or Bill's insanely loud hacking smokers cough. Aside from that it's just whichever character you like best 😊

  • Xernoton
    Xernoton Member Posts: 5,860
    edited September 2023

    So if I understand you correclty, you are confused about the hooks respawning? The reason for that is fairly simple. The killer's objective is to hook survivors. And when survivors can potentially break all hooks in an area permanently, that makes the killer unable to progress their own objective.

    Sabotage is best used to prevent the killer from getting to a specific hook while they carry a survivor. This can potentially allow the survivor to wiggle off or deny the killer hooks in strategic areas. You'll learn to identify when that is the case as you play.

    The game is quite hard when you just started playing, so it's normal to struggle on either side. The best thing you can do is to take every loss as a learning opportunity. This also helps with keeping a positive attitude towards the game and the community.

  • I never knew the hooks respawned ahaha! I was so confused because of that but now it makes sense. Thanks for explaining!

  • I don't have windows of oppurtunity yet, but I'll be getting that soon! Once I figure out which survivor has it lol. As for tunneling, that takes away the fun of it :( I'd rather set some traps or something and wait for that payoff then just chase some poor dude while his teammates abandon him to his fate

  • HoodedWildKard
    HoodedWildKard Member Posts: 2,013

    Kate denson is the one you want. Probably the strongest set of perks on a single character imo.

    And for killer i wasn't talking about tunneling the same surv over and over 🤣 i meant tunnel vision. When a killer zones in on a chase and commits to it for far too long, loses a bunch of gen progress for just 1 hook state.

  • pseudechis
    pseudechis Member Posts: 3,904

    As others have said Kate Denison has good starter perks, windows of opportunity, dance with me, boil over are all good perks.

    But also Meg with Quick and Quiet which lessens noise, sprint burst will give you distance so can have time to think where to run, adrenalin will save your butt by giving you back a health state once gens a powered. Base game survivor so you have her even without expansions.

    Feng with lithe and technician, get a speed boost from vaults and reduce noise from gen repair can be a big help till you get good at hitting skill checks.

    I find male survivors are really loud compared to most females so you tend to get found more, maybe its just me. So start with one of the girls.

    Be sure to look around and get used to rotating the camera even in chase. Looking back at the killer can alert you on a mind game that would otherwise catch you out.

    Lastly play killer, best way to excel at survivor is to play killer and see what works and what doesn't from the other side.

    Above all have fun.

  • RakimSockem
    RakimSockem Member Posts: 2,002

    Honestly just try to have fun. I hardly play anymore because everyone takes the games to seriously at higher levels so appreciate the baby killers while you're still a baby survivor.

    Play what perks you like, meta doesn't matter.

    Go for goofy plays, reset pallets, Sabo hooks, do fun things

    At some point, play killer because it gives you a better perspective of what the killer sees when YOU are the survivor.

    Find a friend to play with because solo queue is pain

  • Vanishlord
    Vanishlord Member Posts: 555
    edited September 2023

    Hopefully this games brings your hours of happiness. As people have said basics don't get attached to anything. Watch streamers to learn but do not attempt some of the manoeuvres they are doing they take high skill which I can't do.

    Be careful not to spend too much money on unnecessary things. Try to only buy licences or one or two chapters to start with or if there's a sale depending on how much money you're willing to spend. Don't spend too much money that you might not get value out of. A mistake I made. A survivor I recommend getting is Kate for Windows of Oppertunity. Clown is dull in my opinion but you could find him fun.

    If you feel yourself getting bored or too frustrated don't keep playing burnout is a real thing in this game. I took a 6 month long break and came back refreshed and may be looking at a shorter one or just switching mostly to killer for a while.

    Don't let other peoples toxic attitude bring you down. And if you do have a friend who plays the game or wants to play the game play with them while you're learning as a solo Q player I don't recommend starting in solo Q.

    Watch gameplay of a killer before buying with ingame currencies and especially real money. Its up to you to find what you find fun. I play pig despite her not being strong because I find her fun and I like to have some friendly matches.

    One last and very important tip play killer and survivor this in my opinion is key to early success on both sides.

    Have fun and may the odds be ever in your favour.

  • Hex_Llama
    Hex_Llama Member Posts: 1,839

    Dwight, Meg and Claudette all have pretty good starter perks, IMO. Kindred is also really good for solo survivor.

    Thinking back to when I started playing, I think my advice is to not stress out too much about whether everyone else is mad at you, or whether you look like you don't know how to play.

  • Ah, I can see how that would be a problem! Still, takes away the fun of it, especially if I'm playing a killer that can set traps lol

  • I really like this advice, I wasn't planning on spending any money any time soon for the other survivors/killers, but watching streamers to see what I like didn't occur to me. I really wish that Dead by Daylight had the option of letting you "test" killers/survivors you don't have in bot matches, to see if you like them. And I know from experience about the burnout thing, I also play World of Warcraft and someone I played with just took it way too seriously and I just couldn't play for months because of burnout. I might stream the game for friends but I never plan on taking the game seriously like that, it's a way for me to have fun and unwind after work, and it's going to stay that way.

  • Dustin
    Dustin Member Posts: 2,307
    edited September 2023

    Have fun with the game and understand that occasionally losing is part of the fun. It's okay to learn meta perks and understand the game but sometimes you should prioritize fun over winning or else the game will become a grind.

    In my opinion Meg is one of the better starting characters - She has two really solid perks being Sprint Burst and Adrenaline and she has a situational perk Quick & Quiet that's pretty good. I personally play Ace but all of his perks aren't great but I've already unlocked everything.

    Every starting character has at least one solid perk that's great for people of all skill levels but I feel Meg's Sprint Burst is probably the easiest to utilize and get value from.

    Anything else I would have had to say EQWashu has already outlined quite well in their post.


  • Vanishlord
    Vanishlord Member Posts: 555

    Thats nice. I wish more people played that way. Some people get way too stressed out over this game and can also ruin the game for other people because of their actions. I hope you enjoy this game as a casual player to enjoy. And I'm happy to hear you don't plan on spending money on the game as soon you start. This was a mistake I made. I spend 30 euros within my first 3 weeks stopped playing 3 and a half weeks later due to how competitive the game was in my lobbies at the time.

  • Shaped
    Shaped Member Posts: 5,870

    Run.